How am I feeling today?

A bit of a gloomy, overcast, and muggy start to the day outside, but it is Coast Guard Day which means that I celebrate the United States’ oldest continuous sea-going service’s birthday, whose history dates to the Revenue Cutter Service.

Happy birthday to the U.S. Coast Guard.

It seems like the photos and stories that I tell myself and others from this period of my life happened to someone else now. They were good years, and while some parts were not so great, but I made it through them. All the experiences in the U.S. Coast Guard helped mold me into the person I have become. More good memories than bad, that is for sure and each August 4th, I celebrate in my own little way, to honor that former life and those who still serve.

Otherwise, I am looking forward to an easy day of running, and only having to mow for an hour this afternoon will be nice. Then I get to rest up and look forward to this Saturday’s 5K time trial, which will be a good test of where I am physically and mentally. Now to figure out which course to use. I am leaning towards the Augusta Rail Trail because it is reasonably flat and faster than most others. I gotta set myself up to succeed or at least not have the course get in the way. The track is boring for a hard 5K, but it is still an option.

Planned Workout Description:  

· Easy Run – 20:00 minutes

Per Stryd: “Easy runs are an important part of balancing training intensity and recovery. Your target for this run is 65-75% of your Stryd Auto-Calculated Critical Power. You are encouraged to start out at the lower end of your prescribed range and progress to near the top of your prescribed range by the end of the run. While going above your prescribed range might feel easy in the moment, it is important to remember the purpose of an easy run is to promote recovery without adding additional fatigue.”

Today’s Running Focus

• Run easy.

What I Did Today: 

Bartlett 40:00-minute course.

Did the workout go as planned?

No.

I doubled the amount of time running from what Stryd recommended, and as usual, I was closer to the 200W than the max 175W they want me to be at. I don’t feel like I am working hard at what I did for easy running this morning, and I don’t see myself changing anything going forward.

Other than that, the run was simply get-it-done, and I did. The only other thing was I met two ladies out walking down back three times. I don’t know who they were, and they were headed towards Philbrick Hill the last time I passed them. No clue. We usually don’t get too many “strangers” up heah on the hill.

Injuries/Niggles: Nothing out of the ordinary, and everything seemed to hold together just fine, although if I had to do a couple more miles, something would have gotten grumpy, I didn’t, and it didn’t.

Weather: Clear sky, 71°F, Feels like 71°F, Humidity 74%, Wind 3mph from N

Shoes: Saucony Ride 13 – I felt good the whole way in them. The R13s didn’t bother the bottom of my feet, and all I could feel was the toe spreader on my right foot. Next time I might attempt to run without the toe spreader to see how that feels.

What did I learn today?

I am still not sure about the Ride 13s, they are better than some shoes that I have run in this year, but something is missing for me. I can’t put my finger on what it is yet, but I have a couple of ideas, and the next run I do in them on Sunday may provide the answers I am looking for.

After the run was over, I stopped and talked with one of the neighbors for about half an hour and solved a few of the world’s problems. When I was finishing the run, he was out weed whacking and was having a tough time.

So, I came back and offered to weed whack in front of his house for him. Of course, he graciously declined my offer today, but I have a feeling at some point this summer, he will take me up on it. He had heart surgery last summer and is still not doing great, but he wants to do what he can. This is a good thing, but at the same time, it might come to the point where he decides that my offer is a pretty good one as the buffer between the road and his lawn gets a bit higher.

Otherwise, it was a good day, and I figured out how to stop the lawnmower from bothering my right elbow as much. Which was important to me and how I am feeling.